Religious and Ethnic Diversity

Religious and Ethnic Diversity- Hispanic/ Latino Americans Name: Institution: Date: Immigration into United States has continually changed the demographics of the country, but recent debates on immigration have targeted Latino immigrants. To start with, Latino immigration began with Spanish conquest of the Americas. Consequently, Latin America came to be identified with the Spanish culture as many societies adopted Spanish as their main language of communication, the intermingling with the slaves and Native Americans resulted in a distinct culture with Spanish influence being more noticeable. Immigration of Latino people into America mainly occurred across the Southern border with Mexico, a Spanish-speaking nation. Like other immigrant communities in America, Hispanic Americans tend to live in enclaves in big cities, but they have a big presence in the West Coast and South West of America (US Census, 2013).They mainly live in Texas, Arizona, and California, Colorado and New Mexico, and a big proportion of them are of Mexican extraction owing to proximity of Southern states to Mexico. On the other hand, Florida has a big proportion of Cuban Americans who have immigrated because of political reasons after the Cuban revolution. In the North, North East and East Coast most Latinos are of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent. According to US Census (2013), the population of Hispanic Americans was 53 million in 2012, making up 17% of the American population. Even though, Latinos are people with roots in Spanish- speaking Central and South America there are different versions of Spanish among the immigrant community. Nonetheless, they share many similarities with many professing Catholicism, unlike Evangelical and Protestant Americans who form the majority in the country. There is no distinct Hispanic cuisine in America, because of diverse background with many dishes being a fusion of Spanish and Indigenous cuisines, but the use of spices is common. Traditional ...